Changes are coming to Cal Poly.
Cal Poly President Dr. Jeffrey Armstrong announced the Office of University’s Diversity and Inclusion office (OUDI) will transition to the University Personnel Division on-campus.
“It worries me as like a club president and also just as a person of color couple especially because we are predominantly white institution,” third-year student Pamela Deshayes said.
The announcement comes on the heels of President Trump's Executive Order regarding the termination of federal government practices and policies that protect and promote diversity and inclusion, which also includes the Department of Education.
“I don't think that things will get better," graduate student Andrea Martinez said bluntly. "I think as administration, specifically the President's administration starts to ramp up, that Cal Poly will only follow to protect its own back”.
But according to University spokesperson Matt Lazier, the decision to move the office was quote “being made at Cal Poly and by Cal Poly leadership, not in response to any outside influences.”
In President Armstrong’s note, the move was to “further improve our effectiveness, efficiency and culture.”
“I don't understand how an institution that wants to be can become an Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) decides to pull OUDI under a different office," Martinez said.
Cal Poly is one of two CSUs that aren’t a Hispanic-Serving Institution out of the 23 that exist. The qualifications to reach that status and receive federal funding state that at least "25 percent of the undergraduate, full-time enrollment be Hispanic; and at least half of the institution’s degree-seeking students must be low-income," according to the California State University website.
As of Fall 2024, Cal Poly reached 25 percent Latino/Hispanic enrollment at the university but is required to be at that percentage or higher for two years before applying for the HSI designation. While they are close though, some students who interact with OUDI are concerned that the change will diminish it's work with students.
“It kind of worries me that we're not going to be as protected or feel seen as students," Deshayes admitted.
However, one staff member did note that they hope the change will allow for the office to reach more of the on-campus community, which include the students, faculty and staff.
The president’s note also noted that the change was something that other CSU universities have done and that it’s reflective of similar consolidations it’s made with other offices on campus like IT Services and Administration and Finance.
Lazier also said in their statement that further details will be made to the campus when they are available.
